# Breaking in a Brand New -- Never Smoked Pipe



## bluesman.54 (Apr 13, 2013)

Does anyone have any suggestions for breaking in a brand new pipe? Anything special -- other than just smoke it?


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## CaptainKoala (Jul 2, 2013)

I'm new at this, so I'm not that experienced... But when breaking it in, don't forget to enjoy it, puff by puff!


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Some people like to break in the pipe by 1/3rds. Smoking 1/3rd bowls for a while, then going to 2/3rds, and then working up to whole bowls full. I just fill it up and smoke. Be careful not to get it too hot, and smoke out of the wind until you get some carbon built up inside the bowl.


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## bluesman.54 (Apr 13, 2013)

Thank you. I will!


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Commander Quan said:


> Some people like to break in the pipe by 1/3rds. Smoking 1/3rd bowls for a while, then going to 2/3rds, and then working up to whole bowls full. I just fill it up and smoke. Be careful not to get it too hot, and smoke out of the wind until you get some carbon built up inside the bowl.


I can understand the breaking it in with the lower 1/3, just to make sure that you get the cake started in the bottom of the bowl. But I feel I have enough experience now to point out what I suspected was true all along: going to 2/3rds is silly. There is no point to it whatsoever. No one ever struggled to get the middle third of the pipe caked...

On the other hand, it can be fun with an uncoated bowl to load 2/3 of a bowl for a while and watch the tar creeping up the sides.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Personally I don't understand the 1/3rd bowl thing. Have you ever tried smoking 1/3rd of a bowl? It just burns hot, and doesn't even stay lit particularly well.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I have, and I agree. At this point, like you, I just load the bowl and smoke.


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## steinr1 (Oct 22, 2010)

I usually go through the part bowl routine until a decent cake has formed in the heel. Although almost all the pipes I use are estates, I ream them back hard to begin with, to the bare wood if possible, and they are in terms of cake, effectively new. I don't have any reason or bad experience that makes me go through this. I tend to respect the "traditions" of briar pipe breaking in as they were (probably) built up over the last 150 years or so for good reasons. Not that I understand them. 

There may well be a very ancient pipe smoker (in France - let's blame France) laughing his socks off at the antics we go through on his say-so alone...


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## bluesman.54 (Apr 13, 2013)

Excellent choice Sir! Yes -- Let's blame France!

Thank you for all of the advice. I sincerely appreciate it.



steinr1 said:


> I usually go through the part bowl routine until a decent cake has formed in the heel. Although almost all the pipes I use are estates, I ream them back hard to begin with, to the bare wood if possible, and they are in terms of cake, effectively new. I don't have any reason or bad experience that makes me go through this. I tend to respect the "traditions" of briar pipe breaking in as they were (probably) built up over the last 150 years or so for good reasons. Not that I understand them.
> 
> There may well be a very ancient pipe smoker (in France - let's blame France) laughing his socks off at the antics we go through on his say-so alone...


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

I'm for "just smoke it."
Just don't let it get too hot.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

I just smoke it. I've heard stories of using honey to break them in but I can't fathom actually trying that.


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## bluesman.54 (Apr 13, 2013)

Thank you for all the advice everyone. I appreciate everyone's input. 

I have just been loading them up and smoking them -- being careful not to let the bowl get too hot. Though that hasn't really been an issue. I have been sure to smoke the entire bowl and shaking the ashes around prior to emptying the pipe. It all seems to be working out rather nicely. I have a few more to go but this seems to be working for me. Take that -- France!!


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## Gandalf The Gray (Jul 22, 2013)

I simply do what others do and smoke. The pipe I have now is getting a descent cake on it, once it gets to a certain point I will ream it back even as much as possible and then continue the cake. My thinking in doing it this way is, you do not have to worry about getting the cake even the first time, because you will even it out later on!


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## mo985 (Oct 9, 2013)

Is there any differance between a CC and a briar? Should you brake them in the same?


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Just smoke the cob, you don't need to develop cake.


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## ravkesef (May 4, 2011)

Breaking the bowl in by thirds is an effective method. Smoke ten bowls for the first third, and then ten for each successive third. After you have smoked 30 bowls, your pipe will be broken in and you will have a decent cake built up. The problem with this method is that you will be smoking wood for a good bit of that time. If you can tolerate it, that's fine. This is the method recommended by GLP, so you certainly won't go wrong with it. I've done it this way on quite a few pipes and have always been successful. 
However, don't discount the honey method. Dip your finger into some honey and rub it around the inside of the bowl, making sure that it is entirely coated. Not too thick, however. Just a light coating well rubbed in will do the trick. Now you can fill your pipe all the way to the top and begin smoking. When you have finished your first bowl, you will not have a complete cake built up, but you will have established the matrix upon which the cake will form. Now just continue smoking your pipe, filling it all the way up, and smoking it all the way down. In 10 bowls or so you will have a thin cake built up, and you can just keep on going, remembering to ream it back when it exceeds the thickness of a dime. (Or a nickel, if that's your preference.)
Disadvantages of this method: there are none. It establishes a good cake right from the outset. There is an urban legend to the effect that the cake established by honey is too soft (and thick)' to be really effective, and will eventually have to be severely reamed back, thus commencing the break in process all over again. As I said, this is an urban legend. The only way you could build up a soft, thick cake is by really smearing on the honey using far more than I've indicated. Please recall that I said to coat the bowl lightly, and rub it in well. This will ensure that you don't overdo it with the honey. And also please note that this will not give you a complete cake, but rather a fairly good matrix.
Why does this method work? It's simple science. The cake on your bowl is carbonized sugar. Your tobacco leaf contains sugar, and when you smoke a bowl, a certain amount of that burnt sugar adheres to the side of the bowl. That's what breaking in a pipe is. Ditto for the honey, and when you smoke your first pipe in a bowl which has been lightly coated in honey, the burnt sugar from the honey will coat your bowl just a wee bit faster than the tobacco alone would do. As long as you don't overdo it with the honey, you'll be in fine shape. It is, as I said, simple science. I have broken in numerous bowls this way, including some rather expensive pipes and have always developed a perfect (and hard) cake.
Of course, you could always buy a Boswell. They coat their bowls with a proprietary coating that has them smoking perfectly from the very first bowl. (Sigh.)


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Not to offend, but I think smearing honey on the inside of a pipe is about the silliest thing you can do. In addition, there is no possible reason for it. Cake is going to build whether you want it to or not. In fact, anyone who's smoked a pipe for any significant length of time spends more time getting rid of cake than they ever did building it. There's absolutely no need to complicate the process with additional steps. Load the pipe. Smoke it. That's it.


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## ravkesef (May 4, 2011)

Mark C wrote:


> Not to offend, but I think smearing honey on the inside of a pipe is about the silliest thing you can do. In addition, there is no possible reason for it. Cake is going to build whether you want it to or not. In fact, anyone who's smoked a pipe for any significant length of time spends more time getting rid of cake than they ever did building it. There's absolutely no need to complicate the process with additional steps. Load the pipe. Smoke it. That's it.


Don't worry, Mark, you don't offend. You simply tell us your method. The fact that it is not employed by the majority of skilled pipe smokers is irrelevant. If you like it, that's perfectly fine. You're quite correct when you state that cake will build regardless. The sole issue is how that will occur. If you pack a new pipe full, you must smoke it all the way to the bottom, else you will develop an uneven cake. You will also be smoking a lot of wood for the first few bowls. That's why GLP and many others say to do it by thirds. You will still be smoking wood, but it will be in smaller doses. 
The honey method is the one recommended by Neal Archer Roan (as well as many others,) and is equally effective. The advantage: the matrix is established immediately, and the cake builds up sooner. To call that "silly" is judgmental and a tad on the rude side. Those of us who do that (and in 54 years of pipe smoking I've learned a thing or two by way of technique,) know what we're doing and why. The advice I shared was intended to inform new pipe smokers of one method of breaking in a new pipe. If Mark chooses not to employ that method, that's his business. To call it "silly" and to state that there is only one method - his own "load the pipe. Smoke it. That's it."- is totally inappropriate for this forum.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

While I doubt I would be included in the ranks of "skilled pipe smokers", I've been using the pack it, smoke it, and forget about it method of breaking in my pipes for a decade now without any negative results. I have heard of the other methods and know guys who employ them so I'll simply say that they can do whatever floats their boat, for myself though, I like simple.

EDIT: I just realized I have already shared my method in this thread- so I'll let this serve as an update that no pipes have been damaged using it since July :biggrin:


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

ravkesef said:


> To call it "silly" and to state that there is only one method - his own "load the pipe. Smoke it. That's it."- is totally inappropriate for this forum.


I stand by my 'silly' comment and have no idea why you think I was stating there is only one method; obviously there are more methods. And frankly, whether or not it's appropriate is not your call.


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## cigarpipeguy (Dec 9, 2014)

Reviving an old thread lol but I take it honey or not I'll be ok with a full bowl. However, would taste be effected by either the wood burn or honey?


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## WI F350 (Nov 30, 2014)

I am new and I am using the pack it and smoke it...just don't let it get too hot...if you cant put the bowl against your check comfortably it is said to be to hot...


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## tmoran (Mar 25, 2014)

I've never used honey, but yes, you can get some weird flavors while the pipe is breaking in. I've never done it any other way than just smoking it. If it's a tall bowl, I'll do some half bowls and 3/4 bowls. I guess I'm a bit of a purist, though. I can't stand pre-carbonized bowls, either. Also, Mark's quote is spot on. If you stick with the hobby, you will spend far more time removing cake than trying to create it. 

If you try the honey method, be sure to let us know how it works.


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## cigarpipeguy (Dec 9, 2014)

Thanks for the replies, I wasn't sure as I never really thought about break in with my first pipe. When I gave this a shot bout 2 years ago I just bought a university pipe from cup o Joe's two tins and just puffed away. But now that I've researched more on the beginners aspects thought I'd give it another shot.


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